It rains every time I'm here

but I'm still having a really good time in NYC anyway.

Met up with timeripple with no problem and woke her up from napping so that we could go have bagels (and lox for me OM NOM NOM) and then we hit up the Kino's and the BookOff, as we do. I caved and got a copy of Battle Royale finally because I'm pretty sure I'm going to be forced to watch it sooner rather than later and I think I'd rather read first. Then we got stuck in a traffic jam made of people! like could not move. And a fist fight broke out in front of us which was equal parts annoying (since we couldn't move) and cool.

maybe i only think that's cool because I teach at a high school and this time I wasn't responsible for breaking it up.

Did UNI-QLO and I got another awesome flannel shirt (men's, lol, i think the girl ones are dumb) and then we bought fancy cupcakes and went to have Hide-chan Ramen which has become a non-negotiable part of all of my trips to NYC. ITS SO GOOD. I made them add an onsen tamago and had hakata-style char siu and the pork just like melts in your mouth leljgejagkasf.

Then we did ALL THE KARAOKE. well, not all of it, but 3 hours of it (i think our record is...5? we did at least 3 one time). and I was super proud of myself for managing to google the karaoke codes for kisumai so we could do Ai no Beat because it was too new for our Duet's books. AI NO BEAT. also Winter Lover. i still totally get wibbly that I can sing Kisumai at karaoke, but that's my own fault for playing Goodbye Thank You every time.

Although I am bummed out that since timeripple is on the west coast now, we totally cannot keep doing this a couple times a year. I have no idea who else I can JE karaoke with. There are people I can drag there, but it kind of sucks to be the only one who knows any songs. DAMMIT WOULD YOU PEOPLE KINDLY STOP MOVING.

Also the other thing that has happened like five times today (and always happens) is that people keep asking me for directions places. I would love to know, empirically, what it is about my appearance that says "Please ask me questions! I know what I'm doing!" The best one was I was standing on a corner waiting to cross, and there was a couple next to me, the boyfriend facing me and the girlfriend facing away. And he was like "We're going to 8th Ave, which is left" and he happened to catch eyes with me and I just silently shook my head and pointed in the other direction and he was like "uh i mean right. Right!" Lol, glad to help you out on the sly in front of your girlfriend, dude.

And yesterday we ran into the same adorable Japanese dude about four times. He was my cashier at Kino's, and he was distinctive because he had a curly bleachy perm and also little freckles like Sakuma. He actually looked like a tall, grown-up Sakuma (CUTE). so anyway, then at the karaoke place, he showed up for his room at the same time we did, and checked out the same time we did too. I wonder if he wondered if I was following him around or what XD I should have, because seriously, way too cute.

Heading out to catch my train home in a couple minutes, so I hope you all are warmer and drier than I am right now!